The photo above and below are file photos. Actual appearance may vary. This picture is to give you an idea of what all is included. All parts are brand new, first line, unblemished, and balanced. This short block kit is not assembled. See our other listings for the assembled version of this short block. We will update our pictures soon.

THIS KIT INCLUDES:

A brand new Dart Big-M Sportsman block that has been decked, bored and honed to specs, Dart coated cam bearings, Scat crankshaft and 4340 Scat rods, high performance rings, King bearings, and a heavy duty 168 or 153 tooth flexplate and a Pro-Race brand damper. The assembly is fully balanced. See details for all the actual specs. In the lower section of this ad is information on the various upgrades we offer in our other listings.

Pictured below is the new Dart Big-M Sportsman block. This block is the absolute ultimate in quality, durability, and value.

This is a file photo. Appearance may vary.

Block Specs.

Dart Big-M Sportsman Block

Fully blue printed

2pc rear main seal

Splayed center caps

The block is bored to size with our new Centroid touch probe machine. Few machine shops have a machine of this accuracy.

We also deck the blocks to an RA finish of approx. 15 or better. The decking procedure is also done by our Centroid CNC machine.

We often find many brand new blocks to have a sloping deck of up to 4 thous. When we're finished decking the block it is within approx. .001 accuracy from end to end. Many machine shops fail to catch this as the machinery they use does not allow for such accuracy.

We then plate hone the block with our new Sunnen SV10 diamond hone machine. This is also a very advanced machine that hones the block with a finish unlike conventional machines.

The final step is to clean the block in our high pressure block washer. You should always re-wash your block before assembly. This is to assure that the block is free of contaminants.

Pictured below is the rotating assembly that comes with the short block kit.

The calculations below were done with pistons at zero deck. We usually deck the bbc blocks down to allow the pistons to sit .003-005 below the deck. Zero deck is most optimal on sbc engines, but bbc pistons tend to have a bit more piston rock than the sbc pistons. We used a 4.560 head gasket diameter, and a .040 head gasket thickness in our calculations to come up with our comp. ratio values.

Piston Family

Cylinder Head Volume

117cc

119cc

121cc

124cc

555

Static Compression Ratio

4.560
Bore

11.15

10.97

10.80

10.56

WISECO FULLY FORGED PISTONS, RATED AT 800+ HP. WISECO PISTONS ARE 100% MANUFACTURED IN THE USA. THEY ARE ONE OF THE HIGHEST RATED PISTON BUILDERS IN THE COUNTRY.

The Wiseco fully forged pistons are rated very high in the street/strip performance industry. They offer several price levels of pistons, starting with the Pro-Tru Street version made with 4032 forged alloy. The next level up would be the Pro-Tru series that are much more expensive and made from 2618 aircraft alloy.

Our custom made Wiseco pistons are very close in comparison to the premium series as they are made using the 2618 aircraft alloy.

Some engine builders use the non-forged hypereutectic pistons, and we find them to be very risky for any carbureted street rod engine. We would not even consider using such pistons. If the pistons are non-forged or forged 4032 alloy, they may fragment from the effects of detonation. This can then allow the connecting rod to destroy the block, crank, and cylinder head. Those types of pistons are fine for stock or very mild engine builds, but should never be used in carbureted engines built to high horse power levels. These type of pistons, especially the hypereutectic version, will not stand much detonation. The forged 2618 alloy piston is so much more resistant to the effects of detonation, and heat.

Our Wiseco Forged pistons are custom designed with an increase in compression height. This has many advantages. Here are a few facts about compression height and deck height.

Our custom made Wiseco pistons have a compression height that is .015 taller than nearly all catalog pistons on the market. We find this to be a very valuable feature.

Since nearly all catalog pistons on the market sit .025 below the surface of a virgin block, the only way to achieve a zero deck using such pistons would be to cut .025 off the deck surface. This compromises the integrity of the block, in our opinion. Should you decide to leave the block deck higher up, using such pistons creates a new issue of having a very poor quench/squish zone. The only way you could really take advantage of a catalog piston is by having a block that needs to or has already been butchered down to 9.00 deck height. Having the piston sitting flush with the deck is very desirable, regardless of the fact that your overall compression ratio is slightly higher than if it were sitting below the deck.

On very rare occasions, you may end up with a block that has the piston out of the hole by a few thousandths and this not a problem at all. Most head gaskets are approx. .040 thick, and should you end up with a quench zone of .035, then that is perfectly ok. Should the pistons sit out of the block beyond .005, then you may want to use an .050 thick head gasket. There are several brands of these on the market. The late model GM block that is included will in most cases allow the pistons to sit flush with the deck or very close to flush.

Another good feature about our pistons having a taller compression height is that the ring land above the top ring is much stronger by being .015 thicker. When pistons encounter the effects of detonation, it is not uncommon to see pistons with the ring land above the top ring broken off. The thicker ring land also makes a better heat sink.

You may have noticed that our Wiseco custom made forged pistons are referred to as Racing Pistons on the package. This does not mean that the pistons are for racing only. This is a generic term, referring to their ability to be used in high performance applications as well as for street rod use. These pistons are perfectly designed for use on the street, as well as for medium to upper level drag racing.

Our custom made Wiseco forged pistons are made from 2618 aircraft alloy. We find this alloy to be much more suitable for high performance engines than the common 4032 forged alloy. You will usually see the higher end pistons on the market using 2618 aircraft alloy.

Why go with 2618 forged pistons? If you encounter certain tuning issues, detonation is highly probable, and its effects can cause severe damage to your engine. The 2618 forged piston is able to withstand the damaging effects from detonation to a higher degree than the lower cost 4032 forged pistons, especially non-forged hypereutectic pistons such as Speed Pro or Keith Black, and many others.

Our Wiseco forged pistons will clear most any valve size on the market with ease, even with the use of large lift cams.

We have built approximately 3500 engines using the Wiseco pistons. The engines have been for street rod and strip use. We have seen no problems, nor have there been any complaints. They are an excellent product in every respect.

These pistons are also suitable for use with nitrous or blower setups. For the slight increase in cost, this is the best value on the market.

The pictures below are file photos of our Wiseco pistons.

Scat Crankshaft.

The picture below is a generic file photo of a Scat crankshaft. You will receive the correct model packaged in the original Scat box.

Some of the benefits of the Scat crankshaft supplied with this assembly:

The material used in this crankshaft is manufactured from an exclusive Space Age material that was designed for high strength and fatigue resistance. The Scat cranks are the best value you will ever find. The Scat crankshafts are the best way to build a strong bottom end for, street rods, dirt and circle track racing, and drag strip racing. This crank is suitable for use up to approx. 600-650 hp.

We recommend that you check the thrust clearance on the crank before assembling the engine. This is recommended on any crankshaft, regardless of brand or cost. Also be sure to check your main and rod journal size.

Our choice of rods are the SCAT COMPETITION SERIES rods with ARP-8740 cap screws.

The Scat Pro-Comp extreme duty I-beam rods should not be mistaken for ProComp rods. These rods are made exclusively by Scat, and have nothing to do with the ProComp company. The critical sizing and installation of the ARP cap screws is performed on a Sunnen machine in the USA by Scat Industries. These rods are excellent for those wanting the extra security offered by a rod with 7/16 ARP cap screws.

Take notice of the design of these rods. They are far superior to conventional style I-beam rods. We are now using this rod in all of our Stage 4 and up SBC engines. We also use this rod in our big block 540/555 engines, making approx. 700+hp

If you do a search on the Scat Pro-Comp rods, you will find a vast amount of info on many car forums. All of the info is 100% positive. These rods are run in engines that not only produce high horsepower levels, but also run at continuous RPM. Notice the general appearance in the pictures. These rods do look impressive. The style is reminiscent of a steel billet rod.

The fact that these rods are incredibly strong and well made, coupled with the fact they are light weight and offer better clearance than any H-Beam rod on the market, made it an easy decision to use them in all of our high horsepower street/strip engines.

The Scat rods do have genuine ARP 8740 Series 12 point cap screws. These rods offer excellent block clearance in the lower end of the cylinders.

Genuine ARP 8740 cap screws.

The Scat rods do have genuine ARP 8740 Series 12 point cap screws. Some cams may require slight clearancing of the rods. Be sure to do a roll over test after installing each rod.

We have noticed some engine builders using low cost generic rods and crankshafts in their engines. These non-branded, (no-name) products are often poor quality in many ways. You will notice many of the low end engine builders fail to mention the actual brand of the rods or cranks used in their engines. Upon further investigation you will find such parts not to be a branded name product. They may label these parts with a name, but one that is totally unrecognizable in the industry. Our experience in years past with such rods and cranks has been disappointing to say the least. Besides the obvious issues such as incorrect sizing and machining that is difficult to correct, the questionable alloy these items may be produced from and the potentially incorrect heat treating methods used, could prove to be disastrous. Little can be done to verify this and nothing can be done to correct it. Failures of such critical parts will usually result in catastrophic damage to the engine. As you may have noticed, this is why we specify the brand name and series of every part used in our engines.

Many of the inferior "no-name" rods on the market will also have "no-name" rod bolts in them. We have seen these bolts before, and they are very low quality. They don't have ARP's rolled thread design, and they don't torque down with the same characteristics as a genuine ARP bolt. It's not just a matter of having a different brand bolt in the rods; these bolts are low quality in many ways. They have been known to fail in engines to a much greater degree than a high quality rod bolt, and this failure usually causes catastrophic damage in the engine. Beware of rods that don't mention the rod bolt brand. As far as we're concerned, ARP bolts are the only brand we would ever use or accept in a set of rods.

Before the engine is assembled, we strongly suggest checking the rods on a Sunnen machine for sizing on both ends. We recommend this with any rod regardless of cost or brand. It is not uncommon to find some of the rods requiring a slight bump through the hone for perfection in sizing and roundness. We also offer this kit with a proofed set of rods. This is an excellent choice for those wanting to build the engine on their own.

We have noticed others using a low grade knockoff brand damper/balancer, and we have encountered them in the past. They are substandard in appearance, and are often out of spec. The timing marks were also poorly marked on some of the balancers we have come across. You don't want a balancer coming off or one that is improperly weighted. Another problem with low grade dampers is the elastomer bonding can lose its adherence to the inner and outer structure. This problem is referred to as a slipped damper. We have only encountered this once in 10 years with the Pro-Race brand dampers.

We know of several competitors including these balancers with rotating assemblies. The ProStreet brand is far superior to most any we have ever seen. They were once known as a knockoff product, and have become one the best values on the market, without comprising quality whatsoever.

HEAVY DUTY FLEXPLATE INCLUDED.

HEAVY DUTY FLEXPLATE. This flexplate will resist cracking. One good telltale in identifying a low quality flexplate is the lack of welding on each side where the plate mates to the ring gear. They usually have a pale grey color to them, as they are not coated, and will rust quickly. Ours are welded on both sides, and are much thicker than an OE plate, and are either zinc dichromate or black powder coated. We would never use the thinner OE style plate on an assembly like this.

We do offer this assembly with a manual flywheel. See our other listings. In most cases we do have both sizes, 153 and 168 tooth, available.

WARNING: the flexplate and crank have a dowel pin hole. You must align the flexplate and crank dowel pin holes, but do not use a dowel pin. The flexplate was aligned to the crank when we balanced the assembly, and must be installed the same way.

Our CWT 5500 Balancer.

We do our own balancing with our new state of the art CWT 5500 Series balancers. The CWT 5500 is the ultimate for precision balancing. We now have three of these in our machine shop. We consider this machine to be highly advanced compared to the Hines balancer we once used. We balance every rotating assembly we sell within 2 grams or less at no extra charge. A balance sheet is included with your assembly.

Three CWT balance machines under one roof is a rare sight.

Our crew wrapping up for the day. Pardon the mess.

Our thoughts on what the competition has to offer.

Many short block kits we see on the market are not using the most suitable parts. We hope you can value the fact that we have put together an above average short block kit. The failure rate with the parts we use is near non-existent. It was through trial and error in years past that taught us where to draw the line with low cost parts. We are out-priced by many others selling short block kits that include parts with high failure rates. Many of these parts also pose a great problem due to the fact they require additional machining and can end up costing you a great deal more money and time. If you're going to have a machine shop build your engine, we strongly advise you get an opinion from them on the parts you're going to be bringing to them. Rest assured they will find no problem with the quality of our parts. We have also seen sellers offering parts that are not compatible with what most people are building. We have seen several sellers offering no-name brand rods with an assembly. These type of rods also have no-name bolts in them. It is our strong advice to avoid this grade of rods. The low grade dampers and flexplates are also another problem. Another area of concern would be balancing. Not sure how much attention these sellers are giving in this area. We spend up to two hours balancing an assembly, and using the very best up to date balancing equipment on the market. If the assembly is not balanced properly, it will hammer the bearings out of the engine, not to mention there is nothing worse than an engine that lacks a smooth feel and sound when under load.

We offer this short block kit with selected upgrades. Listed below are some of the most requested ones. Many not only improve performance, but further enhance the reliability and longevity of your engine, along with resale value.

SFI Certified Flexplate: This is a very low cost upgrade and may be required when racing your car at certain tracks. The flexplate that comes with this assembly is a heavy duty plate, but the SFI certified plate is one step up in quality and safety. This SFI plate is made in North America. We noticed these have much less run-out and warpage than we see with many other plates on the market. Plates with too much run-out and warpage can cause a host of problems for your transmission and starter, and affect balancing. The low cost to upgrade to this is well worth, it in our opinion. These flexplates are only available in 168 tooth size.

SFI damper: Offers an extreme level of safety against breakage, and is very resistant against slippage of the elastomer damping material. SFI dampers are not only made from a better grade of steel, they are also constructed differently and have a much better appearance. They usually last much longer than a non-SFI damper. Many drag strips require this on engines producing high horse power levels. The SFI certification is laser etched into the side.

Crank polishing: Extends bearing life, reduces oil temp, frees up a slight amount of average horsepower. This is a very low cost upgrade, and in the world of mass production, most cranks do not come with a true polished finish. This is why most machine shops have a machine to do this. The difference is dramatic between a crank right out of the box and one that we have polished. Bearing companies claim that cranks that have better finishes on the journals will survive the break-in better, and have much longer bearing life. We do a two-step process and bring the RA numbers down in the single digit range. We have the most advanced crank polishing machine on the market.

Clevite Bearings: We find the Clevite bearings to be a somewhat better product overall. Clevite is what we now use in all of our engines. This is not to say that King bearings are faulty in any way, but under certain conditions, we have seen fewer problems develop with Clevite bearings during break-in. We have sold King bearings for many years and do not hear of problems from our customers, but our experience on the dyno has shown the Clevite bearings have a better surface appearance upon tear-down after many dyno passes.

Rod to cam clearancing and sizing: We know exactly where and how much to cut the rods for correct cam clearance, and sizing the big end and wrist pin bushing on the Sunnen machine saves a trip to the machine shop. All rods, regardless of brand, should be checked for sizing on a Sunnen machine, and corrected if needed. You will seldom see a complete set of rods that have perfect sizing on both ends right out of the box.

Race balancing: This is for those who want the engine to operate virtually vibration free at high rpm. Extends engine life and frees up a few more horse power. This is a somewhat labor intensive procedure and is not required, but the feel of an absolutely vibration free engine at high rpm is desirable by many. The standard balance job that is included with this assembly at no extra charge is certainly sufficient. With a race balance job, all pistons and rods are match weighed to within 2/10's of a gram or less, and the final balance is brought down to around 1 gram plus or minus. An ultra smooth engine at high rpm has a noticeable feel and sound to it. If you do not opt for this upgrade, the assembly will still be fully balanced. We spend a good hour and a half doing the regular balance work, and it will certainly meet your needs.

Scat H-Beam Rods: Recommended for those running hard. The Scat Competition rods that come with this assembly are sufficient for most street rod uses, but the Scat H-beam rods will most likely offer more security against rod breakage under hard use. The H-beam rods have a 750+ HP rating. We have seen others offering no-name H-beam rods with no-name bolts in them. We have found such rods, and the bolts they come with to be inferior compared to any of the name brand rods on the market.

ARP-2000 rod bolts: This is one upgrade that we find to be very valuable. It is the rod bolts that are most likely to fail under hard use, rather than the rod itself. When a rod bolt fails during high RPM, total engine destruction is usually the result. The ARP-2000 rod bolts are a very good upgrade, in our opinion. We actually have few, if any, problems with the regular ARP-8740 bolts, but those who run hard always upgrade to the ARP-2000 rod bolts. The ARP-2000 rod bolts also torque at a higher number, and this increased clamping force is also a factor in keeping the big end of the rod stable and true to size. The ARP-2000 bolts are installed in the rods and this upgrade is available in the Competition rods that come with this setup, or the H-beam rod upgrade.

Scat 4340 Forged Crank: The forged Scat crank has a rating of 800+ HP. This is the ultimate upgrade for those wanting to run hard. Nos, blowers, turbos, are not an issue with this crank. Even without such power adders, this Crank offers great protection under the most severe conditions. This upgrade also comes with the high Performance King bearings. Should you decide to run power adders in the future, this would be essential. The fatigue life of the 4340 crank over the cast nodular is also greatly extended. We do offer this upgrade as part of many of our assemblies in our other listings. They have the key words, "fully forged," in the title.

Block prep package: This upgrade includes notching the block on our Centroid cnc machine to allow additional clearance for the crank if necessary. We also de-burr the block, hone the lifter bores to spec, chamfer the top of the cylinders, and lifter bores, and install the special Dart cam bearings and freeze plugs. The block is then thoroughly cleaned in our block washing machine. We find this upgrade essential for those lacking the proper equipment or knowledge to perform this correctly.

Preparing the block in our Centroid cnc machine for precise notching, if necessary.

The blocks are washed in a dedicated block cleaning machine.

Pictured above is the final rinsing and drying to remove the cleaning solvents.

The upgrades above are all available in our other listings. Some of these are often requested by those building an engine without a machine shop. We find most of these upgrades very valuable for those wanting to take longevity and durability to the next level. They are all bottom end related, and that's an area worth investing a few more dollars into, in our opinion, especially if you’re planning on running long and/or hard. These upgrades are also valuable for your build history on your engine, and would certainly increase the resale value of your engine, should you ever sell it.

A final note.

Our eBay user id is: skipwhite, and our eBay store name is whiteperformance1. You may have noticed other sellers using a similar name offering similar products. We feel they have capitalized on our name as we see it, and many customers searching for us will inadvertently find them, thinking we are one and the same company. There is only one "Skip White." We are the original premier eBay seller under this name since approximately 2002. We have no other eBay names, nor are we associated with any other company regardless of the similarity in the name or location. Our official company name is Skip White Performance. Pictured below is our company logo. Our new address is 1910 Brookside Lane, Kingsport TN, 37660